The de facto US ambassador to Taiwan has urged the island to develop a dense network of drones across air, sea, and underwater domains to deter potential conflict with China. Raymond Greene, director of the American Institute in Taiwan (the body that handles unofficial US-Taiwan relations in the absence of formal diplomatic ties), told a drone forum in Taichung on Thursday that the technology represents a "game-changing opportunity" and that "nothing will deter conflict more effectively than turning Taiwan into a hornet's nest of air, surface and subsurface drones." The call comes as Taiwan's government seeks approval for a NT$210 billion (US$6.59bn) drone procurement package running to 2031, though competing proposals from the opposition Kuomintang party and a reported US hold on a separate $14bn arms sale have complicated the island's defence planning.